Greenwich filmmaker features 'real' women

Updated 10:07 pm, Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Greenwich filmmaker, looking to combat the common view of older women as portrayed on reality television shows and in the media, set out in her latest project to feature women over 50 doing incredible things, and gather their perspectives on life and aging.

The film has been making the rounds on the festival circuit, and will be screened Friday afternoon at the SoHo International Film Festival in New York City. The 3:20 p.m. showing is already sold out.

"In our society, when you say the words `old woman,' there's a negative perception," Kimberlin said. "That's not my experience, nor is it what I've seen in any of my friends."

Kimberlin, 53, who previously produced and directed "Elizabeth Winthrop: All the Days of Her Life," an award-winning documentary about a strong Colonial woman in New England, said "Get Real!" was a very personal project. She lost her mother over the course of making the documentary, and also grappled with her own perspective on aging.

Greenwich resident Joni Steele Kimberlin, who directed and produced “Get Real! Wise Women Speak,” a documentary about older women, stands with a poster for the movie at her home on Thursday, April 14, 2011.

Greenwich resident Joni Steele Kimberlin, who directed and produced “Get Real! Wise Women Speak,” a documentary about older women, stands with a poster for the movie at her home on Thursday, April 14, 2011.

In this October 2007 file photo, Roberta Pollard teaches dancing in Stamford.

In this October 2007 file photo, Roberta Pollard teaches dancing in Stamford.

Photo: File Photo

Greenwich filmmaker features 'real' women

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"It was such a gift to be so steeped in all that wisdom," Kimberlin said. "It really uplifted me during a difficult time in my life."

Over 4 1/2 years, Kimberlin interviewed more than 20 women, traveling coast to coast, as well as abroad. She began with Jean Shinoda Bolen, author of "Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women's Lives," and then traveled to a peace conference in Dallas, where Kimberlin met women from the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

Kimberlin also wanted what she called an "everywoman," and found one in Pollard, now 73, who still teaches ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop dancing after more than 45 years.

Pollard, who is attending the screening in Manhattan Friday and will see the film for the first time, said Kimberlin interviewed her, and then also spent a week following her around as she cooked, mowed the lawn and prepared for a dance recital.

Pollard provided her thoughts on aging, comparing the body to a suitcase: "It's what's inside that is so important."

"Obviously I'm not dancing the same way that I did," said Pollard, laughing. "In your head you're doing all these fantastic steps and movements, and you leap and you think you're 10 feet in the air and you're really 6 inches off the ground."

Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago, managing director of the SoHo International Film Festival, called "Get Real!" a "powerful piece that deserves to be heard and recognized," and a good fit for the festival.

"It is a passionately put together documentary with a strong message, certainly inspiring to watch," Reymundo-Santiago wrote in an email.

Though she hasn't seen it yet, Pollard, who will be attending the screening with her daughter and boyfriend, said she knows the film sends a wonderful message.

"We actually have matured and we've lived our lives and we've had so many different experiences," Pollard said. "If we could impart just a little bit about what we've learned, it's worth it."

Kimberlin said she has been amazed by the response to the film, which has been shown at festivals from Florida to Los Angeles. The Facebook page for "Get Real!" has more than 31,000 "likes," and many are younger women under 35 that Kimberlin hopes will also be enlightened by the film's message, and not ashamed of growing older.

"Don't worry what the popular media says," Kimberlin said. "It's a time to come into yourself and to focus on things that really do matter to you and that make a difference in the world."

It is a far cry from the women on TV fighting with their girlfriends and husbands.